Frequently Asked Questions

By far, the most frequently asked question I receive is, "Do we have permission to reproduce your lessons for use in our church?"  The answer is, "Yes,"  Any material on our web site which bears our Copyright © Sermons4Kids, Inc.notice may be used for ministry purposes as long as there is no charge for their use.  That includes sermons, puzzles, activities, and PowerPoint presentations.  The copyright notice should remain intact on any Sermons4Kids materials reproduced.  This permission extends to use in churches, schools, home schools, and other non-profit organizations.

What about coloring pages?  Can they be reproduced?  Sermons4Kids does not own the copyright to any coloring pages. We have been granted permission by the copyright owners to provide these coloring pages for use with our lessons. Coloring pages may be reproduced for classes in your church or other non-profit, but cannot be sold or distributed to others by any means. Neither can they be reproduced for inclusion in other media such as coloring books, church newsletters, or web sites.

Most of the images like the one used with this post which I use to represent the subject our sermons are provided by with permission of Dream Maker Software.  You will find their copyright notice at the bottom of the page along with a link to their web site.  Permission is not granted to download those graphics or save them to your computer.  They may be printed as an integral part of a sermon for your personal use.

That covers the single most asked question I receive.  If you ever have a question,  please feel free to ask, but it might save us both a little time if you would first check our FAQ Page.

Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant

In 2002, I received an email from a man living in Mexico City asking if I would be interested in having my weekly children's sermons translated into Spanish.  I was thrilled by his offer.  The plan was that I would send sermons to him by email and he would translate them and send them back. I sent him two sermons to get us started and he translated them and sent them back to me.  I then began sending him my weekly sermons, but I never received another translation back from him.

Since I had set up a Spanish page on the web site, I didn't want to let it die, so I began using an online language translator called Babelfish.  That worked pretty well, or at least I thought it did, until I wrote a sermon entitled "Kids Pay Taxes Too."  The online translator rendered the word "kids" as "cabritos."  If you know Spanish, you know that a cabrito is a young goat!

"I don't know who is translating your sermons," a woman wrote, "but it is obvious that they don't know Spanish!  You need help."

"Are you volunteering to help me?" I responded.

"Yes, I will help you" she answered.

"The rest," as they say, "is history." Zulma M. Corchado de Gavalda has been translating our lessons into Spanish every week since October 2002.  Several years ago Zulma suggested that we start a sermon of the week mailing list in Spanish like we offer in English.  There are now over 13,000 subscribers receiving our weekly Spanish sermons by email each week.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Zulma.  Words can never adequately express my gratitude to you for the service you provide to the Sermons4Kids ministry, but I have no doubt that one day you will hear our Lord say, "Well done, Zulma, thou good and faithful servant."

Oh, by the way, would you please translate this post into Spanish for me?  I would like to send it to our Spanish mailing list.

"Why Can't the English?"

In the early days of Sermons4Kids I gave little thought to language.  I assumed that my audience lived in the USA and spoke English just like me, my neighbors, and the members of my local church.  As the years have passed, God has greatly expanded the reach of our ministry.  Last year there were over three million visitors to our web site from more than 200 different countries around the world.  Our Sermon of the Week email mailing list is approaching 75,000.  This has resulted in some enlightening experiences for me!

Recently our lesson was based on Exodus 16 about God providing manna in the wilderness for the children of Israel.  The object used to launch the message was called "Monkey Bread." I even provided a simple recipe made from canned biscuits.  Here are some of the comments I received from our friends in the United Kingdom:

"What are canned biscuits?"

"What you call biscuits, we call scones."

"What we call biscuits, you call cookies."

"Do you mean scones or biscuits?"

"What people in the U.S. call a can, we call a tin."

"Why would anyone put scones in a tin can?"

"How much butter is 'a stick of butter?'"

Oh my! What I thought was a simple lesson to teach children about manna in the wilderness turned out to be a lesson in "English" for me.

Most of our lessons include a coloring page.  In the UK, they think it should be a colouring page.  A few weeks ago our lesson was about "Playing Favorites."  The word "favorite" was used in the word search puzzle.  I was reminded by a friend from "across the pond" that he had to explain to his children that "favorite" should actually be "favourite."

It all reminds me of that song, "Why Can't the English?" from "My Fair Lady."